Mission: Carter, Margaret
by TitansRule
Summary: AU off-shoot of 'The Ones Left Behind' (Avengers). Dosed with the serum, Peggy Carter barely survived an encounter with the Winter Soldier in 1969. Seventeen years later, she's preparing to return to SHIELD, but HYDRA aren't too happy about the idea of the former director being back in the picture. Will this encounter be any different?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a sort-of AU off-shoot of 'The Ones Left Behind', in which Peggy Carter is given a dose of the serum a few years after the war by Howard Stark. In order to keep it a secret, she fakes her death twice to hide the fact that she isn't aging - once in the 1950s (becoming her niece, Belinda Carter) and again in 1969, whereupon she leaves SHIELD to avoid putting her godson through her faking her death again/losing her to the job. When Tony is seventeen, she decides to return to SHIELD (as Sharon Carter) and, in the original story, this happens with no real drama. However, this story looks at what might have happened if HYDRA had been just a little more trigger-happy ...**

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><p>Sometimes Howard had an annoying habit of turning up in the middle of the night. It was something he and Tony had in common – neither of them kept what Peggy would call 'normal' hours, and if something was bothering Howard, he would not think twice about coming to talk to her, whether most people were asleep or not.<p>

So when a soft footstep outside her bedroom door roused her from her sleep at three in the morning, it was not surprising that she assumed it was Howard, especially since the security system had not made so much as a peep.

She didn't move until the door slowly opened, whereupon she rolled over with a sigh, blinking sleepily at her visitor, shrouded in darkness. "What is it, Howard?"

He didn't answer and she frowned, sitting up. "Howard? What's wrong?"

Still there was no response, and a chill ran up her spine as she realised that Howard would have turned the lights on.

The only light streamed in through the slight gap in her curtains and as the figure shifted slightly, it reflected off of something metal, something aiming in her direction.

She didn't scream.

She had no right to scream – seventeen years out of the spy game and she had been ambushed in her own home without even realising it.

It was pathetic.

Slowly, she reached across to turn on her bedside lamp, half-expecting to be shot dead where she sat.

The Winter Soldier stood in her doorway, his face covered, dressed completely in black, a handgun pointed unwaveringly at her head.

They had met once before, in London, and Peggy had barely escaped with her life. Even that did no justice to the actual events – her survival had nothing to do with _her_ skills and everything to do with the fact that he _chose_ not to kill her.

This time, she would not be so lucky. This time, she _was_ the mission, but she could only guess why.

After all, for the moment, she was nothing more than Howard Stark's PA.

Who would want a mere secretary dead?

For that matter, why wasn't she dead_ yet?_

The Winter Soldier had a fearsome reputation – over two dozen accredited hits, barely any witnesses, and unrivalled skills.

The security system – top of the line from Stark Industries – had either been disabled or completely overlooked the intruder, and Peggy had no doubt that the Soldier could have entered her room, put a bullet through her brain, and walked away without _anyone_ (even her) ever being aware he had been there.

So why had she woken up?

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice far calmer than she felt.

He lifted his left arm – the metal one – and it was only now that she noticed the photo frame he was clutching. He held it out to her and she leaned forwards to take a closer look, recognising it as the frame that usually sat on the coffee table in her living room.

It was an old photograph of Steve, one of the rare pictures post-serum in the proper army uniform, rather than the Captain America get-up. His face smiled out at her and she felt a lump form in her chest.

"Who is he?"

"That's Captain Rogers." Peggy answered, keeping her eyes fixed on the photograph. If she was going to die tonight, the last thing she saw was _not_ going to be her murderer. Steve's smile was a far nicer alternative. "He was also known as Captain America."

The Soldier was silent for a few minutes and, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the gun lower slightly. "I know you."

"You chose to leave me alive in London in 1969." Peggy said, still not looking at him.

"From somewhere else." He said. "I know you from somewhere else."

The longer he stood there, the more he spoke, the more his demeanour changed. In London, from what she remembered of his voice as she fought for oxygen (and ultimately passed out), he had a strong Russian accent, and the same was true of his first question.

Now, however, his voice held confusion, the accent sounded less Russian and more American. This was not a demand or a statement – it was a plea for information, and she finally moved her gaze back to him.

After her escape, she had told Howard and Maria that there was something familiar about the Soldier's eyes, and that was even stronger now – just not enough that she could put her finger on _why_.

"Do you know who I am?" She asked.

"Carter, Margaret." He said immediately. "Former Director of SHIELD, currently inactive agent, status set to change within the week."

Peggy's blood ran cold. The number of people who knew her true identity was limited, which meant she likely knew the person who had ordered her murder.

"But that's not right." He continued, the bewilderment returning. "You weren't called Margaret."

"I usually go by Peggy." She said, slowly getting out of bed. "If you're going to shoot me, can we do this downstairs? It's not fair on the ones left behind to get blood out of the bed sheets."

He stepped back silently and she took this as agreement, making her way downstairs to the kitchen. He followed at a fairly respectful distance, and she relaxed a little more. If he was going to kill her, surely he would have done so already.

She turned the kitchen light on and hopped up on to the kitchen table, crossing her legs demurely, feeling a little exposed in her nightdress.

_Oh well, not much I can do about that now._

Again, he stopped in the doorway. The gun was still aimed at her, but a little absently, like he hadn't quite realised he was still holding it. "How do I know you?" He asked.

"I don't know." Peggy said. "I don't remember meeting you before London."

The Soldier looked at the photograph he was still holding. "I know him too."

Peggy's brow creased. "You can't." She said immediately. "Your first accredited hit was in 1952. Steve … Steve died in 1945."

"A plane." He murmured, frowning. "They said it was a plane."

"They were right." Peggy said slowly. "Who's they?" And why were they telling the Soldier about Steve's death?

"How do I know you?" He asked again, ignoring her query. Maybe he just didn't know the answer.

Pierce had told her that the Soldier was frozen between missions. She remembered the blankness of his eyes in London, his reasoning for leaving her alive.

"_You are not the mission."_

This was not a man anymore. Whoever 'they' were, they had made him into a weapon.

Her heart ached for him and she softened her voice. "I don't know." She repeated. "Why don't you take the mask off?"

He hesitated and the gun rose a little once more.

"You're going to kill me anyway." Peggy said, hoping that she didn't sound as afraid as she felt. "So it can't do you any harm to show me your face. If I can see your face, I might be able to tell you how you know me."

For a few seconds, she thought he might just shoot her. Then he set the photograph down and reached up to peel off the mask.

His hair was longer than she remembered it, his face paler, and without the charming smile or cheeky grin, he was almost unrecognisable.

Almost.

"Bucky …" she breathed, unconsciously using Steve's nickname for his best friend.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" He asked.

Peggy swallowed hard, guilt filling her. They had never looked for Bucky, never even attempted it. With no way of knowing exactly where he had fallen and three avalanches in the region in the week after the fall, it was akin to finding a needle in a haystack. "That's your name." She said. "Well, your nickname. You are Sergeant James Buchannan Barnes of the 107th unit of the United States Armed Forces, later the Howling Commandoes under the command of Captain Steve Rogers, your best friend. He'd called you Bucky since you were eight years old."

"I don't remember." He whispered, his hand beginning to shake.

Peggy cast around desperately for something that might help. She had never spoken much to Bucky during the war – in fact, she always got the feeling that he didn't like her all that much, although he always hid that fact from Steve. "32557038."

He froze. "What?"

"That was your Sergeant number." Peggy said. "You kept repeating it when HYDRA took you, when Steve found you. You kept repeating it, so they wouldn't get anything else out of you. 32557038."

"They found me." Bucky said suddenly. "HYDRA. They found me in the snow. My arm was … It was missing. They took me in … gave me a new arm … I was strapped to a chair, I couldn't move … they kept … They kept … They kept …"

The gun dropped from his hand and Peggy winced as it clattered on the floor, thankfully not discharging as it did.

Still, better on the floor than aimed at her, and she reached a hand out towards him. "It's okay. You're safe now."

He stepped closer, a kind of desperate want crossing his face, and she nudged one of the kitchen chairs with her feet so he could sit down.

He almost seemed to curl into it in a way that should have been uncomfortable, making himself a lot smaller than he was, and she let her hand settle on his right shoulder. "It's okay." She repeated quietly.

"They kept shocking me." He continued quietly. "Over and over … They said that HYDRA was going to create the change the world deserved and that I was going to help them … I fought it … I fought it so hard …"

Peggy almost cried out at the desperation in his eyes, but managed to keep her composure, tightening her grip on his shoulder. He shifted, his head resting on her lap like a small child, and she ran a hand through his hair soothingly, as he kept talking. He talked for a long time, describing the underground base and the equipment they used to torture him, trying everything they could to unmake him.

Finally a shudder ran through him and she tensed, waiting.

"I knew he was coming." Bucky said, his voice muffled against her skin. "I knew that Steve would find me. Even if he thought I was dead, he wouldn't rest until he'd taken HYDRA out, and he'd find me. And then … And then they told me he was dead … and …"

"And they broke you." Peggy finished flatly.

He didn't respond, his body shaking with the tears he had never been allowed to shed. A tear of her own slipped down her cheek as she silently promised Steve that she'd fix this.

"You did well, Sergeant." Agent Carter said firmly, gathering Bucky into her arms. "You're home now."

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><p><strong>AN: At the moment, this story is complete. However, on saying that, I do have ideas to continue it - if I do, it will probably become a BuckyPeggy/Steve love-fest, but I have too many WIPs to bother if no one wants to read it, so please let me know what you think in the comments - thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, overwhelming majority says continue, so continue is what I will do. From here on out, this story will involve both het and slash pairings (does that really need to be a warning, guys?), although the slash is, as of yet, unspoken/unresolved. Though you could make the same argument for the het, so ...**

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><p>Peggy didn't know how long they sat there, his face pressed against her stomach, her fingers tracing random patterns through his hair and across his back while she hummed her way through the repertoire of lullabies she had built up over Tony's childhood.<p>

The sun had begun to creep across her kitchen floor, reflecting glaringly off the metal of the pistol still lying on the tiles, when the phone rang.

She ignored it, hushing Bucky when he started, letting the answering machine pick it up.

_"This is Sharon Roberts. Please leave a message."_

_"Sharon, this is Alex, calling about your enquiry last week. Call me back when you get a chance, my number is …"_

Peggy sighed, loosening her grip. "I should …"

"No!" Bucky said loudly, grasping her hands. "You shouldn't."

Peggy gave him a gentle smile. "It's okay, Bucky. That's Director Pierce, he …"

"He's HYDRA." Bucky said bluntly. "He hired me."

Peggy's sentence stuttered to a halt along with the message and she gasped in a breath of much-needed air.

"Now I really need the phone." She said, her voice echoing in her head as though she wasn't the one speaking. "I need to call Stark. Howard Stark." She elaborated, unsure how much he remembered and how much had just been triggered by Steve and his serial number. "He worked with the Commandos too."

"It's not safe." Bucky said, with all the desperation and worry of a man who had lost everything and had just found a lifeline to cling to.

"Hey, it's okay." Peggy murmured. "I trust Howard Stark with my life. More than I would trust anyone at SHIELD. It's okay." She continued her mantra of soothing words as she reached for the phone, dialling Howard's personal number.

_"Stark."_

"Howard, it's me." Peggy said quietly. "I need a safe house and I need one twenty minutes ago."

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><p>Many things could be said about Howard Stark, but never could it be said that he couldn't move fast in a crisis.<p>

Within ten minutes, Bucky and Peggy were holed up in a heavily guarded room underneath Stark Manor, Peggy acting as buffer between Bucky and Howard, who was fluttering around him like an overexcited moth at a nightlight.

"Back off, Howard." She said finally, sinking into a chair. "I've seen what that arm can do. I'm not stepping in if he decides to use it."

Thankfully, this calmed Howard down a little, although he did eye the arm with the same curiosity he eyed all new tech.

Tony slipped through the door at this point and Peggy rose to embrace him. "I'm okay."

"What's going on?" Tony demanded. "Why do people want you dead?"

"Tony …" Howard began sharply.

"Your father and I founded an organisation in 1946," Peggy interrupted, "called the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division, otherwise known as SHIELD. I left just before you were born, while the agency was in the hands of a man named Alexander Pierce. Apparently, Pierce is a member of a Nazi organisation called HYDRA and he decided that he doesn't want me back in the field, so he sent the Winter Soldier to take me out. Didn't account for the fact that we were old friends."

"Actually," Bucky said slowly, "I remember not being too fond of you during the war."

Peggy arched an eyebrow. "To the extent that you want to kill me"

Bucky shrugged. "No, just thought I'd mention it."

Peggy shook her head, a smile crossing her face despite his words. He was beginning to sound more like the Bucky Barnes she remembered.

"Aunt Peggy." Tony whispered.

"I'm going to be okay." Peggy assured him. "I just need to know how HYDRA got into my agency. We checked _everyone_."

"No we didn't." Howard said suddenly. "We didn't check everyone."

"Excuse me?" Peggy asked.

"We didn't check everyone." Howard repeated. "The World Security Council insisted on implementing some of their own agents when we started."

"They told me they'd background checked …" Peggy started.

"And they did." Howard said with a sigh. "But these were the people preaching leniency on those who were just following orders."

"They didn't believe in what HYDRA were spouting at all." Peggy muttered, her mouth curving in a sardonic smirk. "Fucking red tape."

"Aunt Peggy!" Tony said, sounding shocked.

"Yes, I know that word." Peggy said. "Yes, I have been known to use it once or twice." She ran a hand through her hair. "Howard, I want a full background check on _everyone_. Get me agents I can trust."

"I've got a better idea." Bucky said. "You're not careful, you're gonna end up spying on the spies who are spying on the spies. Make sure you have allies. If not, I'll blow 'em sky high for you. If you do, expose them. I'll come with you."

Peggy looked at Howard questioningly. He was already on his computer, typing at top speed. "I can find that out." He said confidently.

Peggy sighed. "Why not? Lady Liberty hasn't been out in a while."

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><p>At the first sight of the uniform Howard had created before using her abilities overtly had even crossed Peggy's mind, she had requested something a little less patriotic and a lot less obvious,<p>

But now, as the command centre of SHIELD fell silent at her entrance, she found herself grateful for it.

Director Pierce was discussing something with several other agents, but turned at the silence that befell the room, his face draining of blood at the sight of her.

"Good morning, Director." She greeted loudly. "I do apologise for the inconvenience, but dying really wasn't on my list of things to do today. It has come to my attention," she continued, cutting through the hushed murmur that ran around the room, "that HYDRA is not as dead as I had so hoped it was, and if _anyone_ even thinks about going for a weapon, they will find themselves with a bullet through their head before they can think about firing it. I have a sniper and he's _very _good."

Pierce's eyes flickered to one of the agents across the room, who drew his weapon, but Peggy merely smiled, not even flinching as a bullet flew past her head, hitting the agent in the direct centre of his. He dropped to the floor, blood pooling beneath him.

"Anyone else?" Peggy asked sweetly.

Nobody moved.

"Good." She said. "Because I don't want to spend more time on this than I have to. I have a team checking each and every one of you, by the time today is finished, I will know every last secret you have ever tried to hide, and you had better hope and pray that the biggest of those secrets is that you stole a candy bar when you were a teenager."

_"Deputy Director Fury's clean." _Howard's voice said in her ear. _"Starting on the level 8 now; we'll work down. Only vetted one other agent so far, Phil Coulson, he's clear too."_

Peggy spun on the spot, finding Nick Fury easily. "Congratulations, Deputy Director, you've just been promoted."

"You can't …" Pierce began.

"Sergeant?" Peggy said. "Remind me why Pierce is no longer Director of this agency?"

"He's working for HYDRA, actually he's almost running it." Bucky complied, his sniper's laser settling on Pierce's forehead. "Ordered the hit on you last night."

"Soldier, stand down!" Pierce barked.

"No can do, Director." Bucky said. "Sorry, former Director. See, I only obey orders from one man, and Captain America you ain't."

"The Howling Commandos were a law unto themselves, Pierce." Peggy said with a smirk. "You lost the Soldier the moment you sent him after one of our own."

Pierce's mouth curved into a smirk of his own. "You weren't a Howling Commando, Carter, just a …"

Another gunshot ran out, skimming past Pierce's head, and Bucky cocked the gun again. "You watch your mouth. Just because the media didn't like admitting that a woman was saving their asses, didn't mean she wasn't one of us."

"Thank you, Sergeant." Peggy said dryly. "Now we've established that he's likely to shoot you for insulting me as well as for trying to shoot me, let's avoid both those routes shall we, because he is still a little on edge. Agent Coulson?"

"Ma'am?"

"You're clear too." Peggy said briskly. "We're working on the rest. Let's lock it down."

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><p>Howard was a genius, but Tony, amazingly, was even better, and between the two of them, they cleared out the high clearance levels within a few hours.<p>

Peggy relaxed a little with every name they cleared, assured that neither would release any name until they had triple-checked the threat against her.

Once the HYDRA infiltrators in the higher ranks had been rounded up and imprisoned awaiting interrogation, she could leave it to the loyal agents to clear out the rest of SHIELD.

It wasn't over.

Quite possibly, it would never be over, but she could take a step back and focus on getting Bucky back to normal – or, at least, whatever counted as normal.

For two people who had never really spoken or interacted all that much outside battle situations, they formed a strong bond very fast.

Maybe it was due to the fact that they were two people not aging in a world that was.

Maybe it was their shared grief over Steve's death.

Or maybe it was just due to the fact that they had more in common than they had ever realised before.

A long time passed before Bucky began to even remotely recover from what HYDRA had done to him, several years in fact, and much had changed.

It was a cold November night when Bucky finally approached the elephant in the room. They had just eaten dinner (he was still living in her spare room and she had neither the heart nor the inclination to ask him to leave), and were sitting in the living room in front of the fire.

"You know," he said, taking a swig of his beer, "I meant it when I said I didn't like you all that much back then."

Peggy smiled slightly. "I know." She cradled her mug of coffee, letting the porcelain warm her, even though her blood ran hotter these days. "If we'd lived through it, I was going to talk to you about it. Let me guess, you thought I was one of those girls who suddenly saw worth in him now he was Captain America?"

Bucky shrugged and made a non-committal noise, that some would have taken as assent. Peggy, however, was only partly convinced, but answered the question anyway.

"Well, I wasn't. I fell in love with a scrawny kid from Brooklyn. Not that the serum didn't have a _very_ nice side effect." She added, giving him a smile over the rim of her mug.

Bucky didn't smile back and she set her mug down with a sigh.

"But that wasn't the reason, was it? You were jealous."

Now Bucky chuckled, a little self-depreciatively. "You're a great gal, Peggy, always were, but just because I was used to getting the dames didn't mean …"

"Of me." Peggy elaborated quietly. "You were jealous of me. Not Steve."

Bucky's mouth snapped shut.

"I knew." Peggy said heavily. "It was kind of obvious. I mean, I told myself it was nothing. His eyes would light up when he talked about you, which he did a _lot_. Could've just been best friends. Then he threatened to walk to Austria to break you out of a HYDRA camp and I saw you get reunited."

"We weren't …" Bucky managed to croak. "We never …"

"I know that too." Peggy said. "Aside from anything, Steve didn't have a deceitful bone in his body. He was very clearly interested in me and would not have been so clear about it if you and he were … Well. You don't have to be involved with someone to be in love with them."

"He was in love with you." Bucky said, almost desperately. "You believe that, don't you?"

"I wasn't sure." Peggy admitted. "Although it's good to have it confirmed. But he was in love with you too. I don't know if he had realised it or accepted it but he was."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Bucky asked incredulously.

Peggy reached for her coffee again, momentarily wishing she had added a shot of something alcoholic along with the cream. "It did for a little while, but then … We were in a _war_, Bucky, and Steve's heart was more than big enough to allow him to love us both with room left over. If we lived through it … If we'd lived through it, I would have talked to him about it. I would have covered for you both, if you wanted."

"He wouldn't have let you." Bucky said immediately. "He loved you too much."

Peggy shook her head with a sad smile. "He'd have set fire to himself if it kept us warm."

Bucky reached over to take her hand and she gripped it gratefully. It had taken him a long time to feel comfortable using his left arm to do anything – let alone touch anyone else – so she took this as a victory.

"Still," she continued with a sigh, "it's all a moot point now, isn't it?"

"Guess so." Bucky said heavily. "I was wrong though, you know."

"About what?" Peggy asked.

"Disliking you." Bucky elaborated. "I tried to convince myself it was what you said to start with, about worrying that it wasn't just 'Captain America', that he'd just been taken in by a pretty face, but … he spoke very highly of you, and I always figured he was exaggerating, but you deserve every damn compliment."

"As do you." Peggy said, toasting him with her mug. "We'll have to compare notes some time, because all I ever heard about was you."

"Did he _ever_ talk himself up when he was with you?" Bucky asked.

Peggy laughed. "Not even close. I take it that was …"

"Typical Steve." Bucky confirmed with a groan. "Never could take a damn compliment. There was this one time …"

Bucky's stories continued long into the night, although Peggy contributed where she could. She didn't have as many, but it became clear that Steve had been less than forthcoming about his time at basic training (Bucky was particularly interested to hear about the grenade story, which Steve, shockingly, had neglected to mention altogether).

And it wasn't until Peggy went to bed that evening that she realised that, for the first time since 1945, thoughts of Steve had come with a smile instead of tears.

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><p><strong>AN: My strengths lie in character development, not drama, and the point of this story is the relationship between Peggy and Bucky (and later Steve), so I'm not delving any further into SHIELDHYDRA. You want that, you'll have to wait until I get there in the main story arc.**


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